


Mace - A Star Wars Survival Story

by Raf_Doodle



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Betrayal, Coruscant (Star Wars), Death, Duelling, Emotional, Fights, Gen, Good Writing, Hiding, Interesting, Jedi, Lightsaber Battles, Lightsabers, Mace Windu Lives, Missions, Movie: Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Near Death, Near Death Experiences, Order 66, Original Character(s), POV First Person, POV Mace Windu, POV Male Character, Plot Twists, Post-Order 66, Post-Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Presumed Dead, Revenge, Science Fiction, Sith Empire, Spaceships, Survival, Suspense, The Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25597291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raf_Doodle/pseuds/Raf_Doodle
Summary: Jedi Master Mace Windu still lives. After being presumed dead during a failed attempt to arrest Chancellor Palpatine, who is indeed a Sith Lord, Mace finds himself all alone in a newly established anti-Jedi society ruled by the Sith. He now must depend on all his skills to get by while his quest for revenge leads him on a very unprecedented pathway.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12
Collections: Star Wars Fanfiction Discord





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of the recognizable Star Wars characters, settings, etc in this fan theory-inspired story.

A vibrant Coruscant night bestowed upon us as we walked towards the end of the hangar. The thought of young Skywalker’s words had stormed my mind, but the clouds were more clear regardless. Chancellor Palpatine was indeed the secret Sith Lord we have been looking for.

“He orchestrated this whole war hasn’t he?” asked Agen Kolar as we entered the transporter.

“Yes, it seems like he was the Sith Master of the late Count Dooku,” replied Kit Fisto.

“Yeah, Darth Sidious was to be exact,” said Saesee Tiin behind me.

I stood pensively as our second transporter of the day took off and started breezing through the colourful streets of Coruscant. People were going about their daily business, but through the Force, I sensed their fear crawling inside of them. The thought of the Clone Wars for the past three years dug a hole in the galaxy’s field of happiness and prosperity. Although the separatists were dying off at this very moment, I knew that the end of the war was going to take place at our destination...the Chancellor’s office.

“We have to kill that man!” I insisted to my three friends. “We must end not only this war, but the Sith as well!”

“Calm down Master Windu,” urged Fisto. “Do not let your anger cloud your judgment.”

“He is right Mace,” replied Kolar. “It is not the Jedi way. Let him get arrested and stand trial.”

“He is too dangerous to be left alive!” I exclaimed. “Count Dooku didn’t even stand trial!”

“If Sidious is indeed dangerous,” added Tiin, “then we would have to kill him right?” 

Kolar and Fisto nodded yes beside me to vaporize a bit of the stress cloud storming within my mind. However, that cloud would be soon joined by more clouds inhabiting the thoughts of how dangerous the Sith Chancellor could be.

“Do not worry,” Kolar told me. “We are four Jedi Masters against one Sith. We are good.”

Our transporter soon landed at a platform near the Senate Building. We all hurried inside the building and entered its glass lift. While being raised 20 stories high to the top of the building, we gazed upon a lovely view of the Coruscant city skyline. After exiting the lift, we walked down the crimson red hallways with statues staring at us, but not intimidating us. 

Once we reached the automatic doors in front of us, they swooshed open and we were now inside the Chancellor’s office. His grey desk was in front of us alongside his chair, whose dorsal side faced us until Chancellor Palpatine turned around with a welcoming look on his old face. 

“Master Windu," greeted Palpatine. “I take it General Grievous has been destroyed then. I must say, you're here sooner than expected.”

After that moment, I said something unprecedented in galactic history:

“In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor." 

My friends and I had gotten out our lightsabers from our brown robes. Kolar’s blue blade shined up to my right while Fisto’s green blade ignited to my left. Tiin’s green blade arose to Kolar’s right, but it was the prestigious purple blade that grew from my lightsaber’s metal hilt.

“Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?” asked Palpatine as he stared at our ignited weapons. 

“The Senate will decide your fate," I replied.

“ _I am the senate!_ ” he growled back.

“Not yet!” 

Palpatine rose from his seat as I sensed an anger within which was redder than those crimson red hallways and the Chancellor’s robes. My words had unleashed the Chancellor’s inner Sith beast and soon we saw what looked like a lightsaber in his right hand.

“It’s treason, then," Palpatine told us before igniting his red-bladed lightsaber. 

Adrenaline rushed through our bodies while we positioned ourselves for battle. Palpatine screeched and leaped into the air, transforming into a red blur before landing right in front of us. Our lightsabers were raised and ready, but the Sith Lord had his pointed downwards and in a matter of seconds, Kolar let out a cry. He had been stabbed and quickly went down, but before we could react, Palpatine swung to his right and struck Tiin down as well. Fisto and I clashed our blades with that of the Chancellor, who soon murdered my last remaining comrade with a quick slash and turned towards me. I was alone. All my friends were dead, and I have been pushed to the edge. 

Palpatine and I clashed blades as we moved out towards the crimson red hallways and into the Chancellor’s red meeting room. I quickly flipped around, and Palpatine pointed his lightsaber right at me as I stretched my hands out to my sides.

“That Sith Lord must lose!” I thought to myself while figuring out my next move.

I quickly engaged the Sith Lord and locked blades with him. We started into each other’s angry faces. I can now truly feel the dark side of the Force surrounding Palpatine or should I say...Darth Sidious. Before I could process any more information, however, Palpatine telekinetically threw me against the wall with the Force and ran at me with his red blade. My deactivated lightsaber fell to the ground, and I was left defenseless like a lonely youngling. However, as the Jedi Order’s greatest champion, I quickly dodged his incoming attack and grabbed my weapon. I ignited my purple blade once more and clashed it with his red one again. 

This duel was getting harder as time progressed quickly. Palpatine was flipping around towards the grand window, so I tracked him there. I swung my lightsaber backwards and shattered the entire window, releasing a barrage of loud crashing noises. As I resisted the outside wind to my right, Palpatine growled and came at me with more lethal lightsaber moves, but I fought them off and we switched positions. The Sith Lord attempted to lock blades once more and thus allowed me to discover his flaw.

I kicked Palpatine in the face and caused him to drop his weapon down to the streets of Coruscant. I moved quickly towards the defenseless Sith Lord, who crawled back like a child to the corner of the window frame. My blade was pointed right at his sly Sith face. 

“You are under arrest, My Lord," I told my defeated opponent as the familiar face of young Anakin Skywalker appeared to my right. 

“Anakin!” cried Palpatine. “I told you it would come to this. I was right. The Jedi are taking over.”

“The oppression of the Sith will never return," I replied. “You have lost.”

Palpatine grew angry fast and exclaimed, “No! No! You will die!” 

The Sith Lord unleashed a bright blue barrage of Force lightning at me from his fingertips, but I placed my blade in front to block it. The lightning was way stronger than the wind outside and caused my stormy mind to start thundering. I thus cried in agony while calling on all my Force abilities to deflect the lightning back. Meanwhile, Anakin shielded his eyes from the light show with his black sleeve.

“He is a traitor, Anakin!" insisted Palpatine.

“He’s the traitor!” I shouted back.

“I have the power to save the one you love," Palpatine told Anakin as his face became heavily distorted by his very own lightning which I shot back at him. 

“You must choose!” he continued as his eyes turned bright yellow. 

“Don’t listen to him, Anakin!" I yelled.

Anakin continued shielding his eyes as the yellow-eyed Palpatine and I struggled to finish one another off.

“Don’t let him kill me," the disfigured Palpatine stressed as he begged the Jedi Knight to help him. “I can’t hold on any longer.”

I raised my non-lightsaber hand in the air and the lightning blitz halted. My purple lightsaber blade was pointed at the defenseless Sith Lord again.

“I am going to end this once and for all," I told him.

“You can’t," said Anakin to my right. “He must stand trial.”

“He has control of the Senate and the Courts," I replied. “He is too dangerous to be left alive.”

“I’m too weak!” Palpatine responded. “Don’t kill me. Please!”

“It’s not the Jedi way,” Anakin insisted. “He must live.”

I was confused about Anakin’s intentions as he said the exact words Kolar told me before our arrival here. However, I remembered Tiin saying that killing the dangerous Chancellor would ensure safety. So I raised my blade in the air to strike down Palpatine like he did to my friends.

“Please don’t!” Palpatine repeated as I got ready to kill him.

“I need him!” cried Anakin.

I ignored the storm of voices around me as my mind was already stormed enough. My blade was raised as high as ever, just like the fear in Palpatine’s face. The war will come to an end...and the Sith will be gone at last. It was time...until...

“NO!” Anakin yelled as he ignited his blue-bladed lightsaber.

The Jedi Knight swung his weapon at me while I was about to deliver the killing blow and pierced off my right forearm. I screamed in pain. I was confused. I was defenseless. My lightsaber had joined Palpatine’s in the streets of Coruscant. Worst of all, I was missing a forearm. My eyes opened a bit and saw that the fear in Palpatine’s face diminished into a demoning smile while a tornado began to roar inside my mind.

Palpatine unleashed a more powerful barrage of lightning at me while screaming “POWER!” as loud as he could. I could not block it this time. My face was illuminated with the painful bolts. My skull was visible, but the tornado in my mind was not. All I could do is scream and scream as my remaining hand could not block the full fury of the dark side of the Force. While the pain of losing my forearm kept burning on, it was promptly joined by the stinging pain of blue electric rays engulfing my brown skin. 

“UNLIMITED POWER!” screamed Palpatine as he continued his electric attack.

The Sith Lord, using the Force, gave me a hard push to the right and I was flung outside into the Coruscant skyline. Despite being freed from the intense electrocution, I was falling...falling...and falling with an urban blur around me. 

“This is the end," I thought. “I am going to die.”

“No you will not," said Fisto’s voice in my mind.

“Let the Force flow through you," responded Kolar’s voice.

“Stay alive Master Windu," echoed the voice of Tiin. “The Force will always be with you.”

I then started feeling lighter in weight as my seemingly never-ending fall continued. The roaring tornado in my mind began to scale down and the clouds died in greyness. I then heard a loud “thump” as my body crashed upon a street in the lower levels of Coruscant. However, I rather felt like a small ball which bounced on the ground, instead of a large meteor coming crashing down from 20 stories high.

I have survived, but I was lost. My severed limb and face were both inhabited with unstable burning pain, so I tried using the Force to calm the pain down. There was no one around me. There were not even any clouds in my mind, just emptiness. I got up and looked at the Senate Building from afar. I could barely see the broken window, but I figured that Anakin had probably fallen to the dark side. However, I was too busy gazing at my unfamiliar surroundings. 

The lower levels smelled like trash and it was really dark down here since there were only a few dirty lampposts on. The vibrant Coruscant night did not bestow upon me here, and I could not go back to the Jedi Temple. The Chancellor might come after me if he found out I was still alive and I sensed the worst was yet to come. 

“Hello!” echoed a voice behind me.

I froze in position and turned my head back. I could not see anyone, though.

“You seem like you need some help," the voice continued. “Come friend.”

With no other choice, I walked slowly in the direction of the voice.


	2. Chapter 2

I kept on walking towards what appeared to be nothingness. The unknown voice became more distinct as I kept walking.

As I inched closer to it, I realized that the voice was masculine and somewhat demanding. It seemed like he really wanted to help me out. A heavily built man wearing all black appeared in front of me. The light of one lamppost bestowed upon his face, revealing the full visage. He had no hair like me, but had lighter skin, green eyes, and a black beard around his lips. 

“You need assistance right away," the man insisted to me. “Let me help you.”

I knew I could trust him and stretched out my severed, cauterized arm. The man handed me a cool white cloth from his left pant pocket, and I placed it on the bit of blood still oozing out. 

“What is your name sir?” he asked me.

“Mace Windu," I replied as I pressed the cloth on my wound. “Yours?”

“Franko Drix. I work as a mechanic here in the lower levels. What do you do?”

Before I could respond, I suddenly felt a jolting headache. I heard the thundering of blaster shots and screams through my mind. The screams of my Jedi colleagues. Something disturbing clearly occurred after my presumed death. Another storm started to form inside my mind, but Franko patted me on the shoulder and it faded away. 

“Is something wrong?” he demanded as I cried.

“Something terrible has happened," I told him. “I do not know what exactly.”

“How could you sense that through a headache?”

“People like me can sense great disturbances in the galaxy.”

Franko had a confused look on his face. He ran the fingers of his right hand through his beard and then into his right pant pocket. 

“How did you lose your forearm?” he asked. 

“It is because of Chancellor Palpatine," I answered. “He is a Sith Lord. When I tried to kill him, a fellow Jedi Knight betrayed me and cut off my forearm to save him. Then, the Chancellor threw me out of the window with his Sith lightning. He thinks that I am dead.”

“You’re a Jedi then aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am a Jedi Master. Look Chancellor Palpatine is...”

“So...you’re an enemy of the state?”

“Enemy of the state? What do you mean by that?”

The storm in my mind had formed again, this time roaring more powerful than before. Franko grabbed a blaster from his right pocket, and I dropped his bloody cloth in fear. It was pretty obvious that it was not the red of the cloth which bothered me at the moment.

“Franko!” I pleaded. “Lower the blaster!”

“I’m sorry, but it’s all about the credits," he replied.

“Credits?”

“Yes, we lower level dwellers have endured so much suffering over these past three years. The Republic and Jedi got too caught up in the war to ever empathize with us!”

“It was the Chancellor's fault. He orchestrated the entire war!”

“I don’t personally care about the Chancellor, but then again, imagine how much credits I would get for turning in a Jedi.”

The storm evolved into a tornado again, and I was going to be betrayed for the second time tonight. Palpatine seemed to have spread anti-Jedi sentiment within the general public. Making the Jedi Order “the enemy of the state” was such an anti-Republic thing to do, but it was a pro-Sith thing to do. There had to be a way to get that Palpatinian pest out of Franko’s mind.

“Look Franko," I told him. “There is a better way to get what you want.”

“How so?” he smirked back while continuing to point his blaster at me.

“You really think Palpatine would benefit you if you turned me in.”

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“He is a menace! He only cares about himself and power. You would only be a pawn to him.”

“Is that so now?”

Franko lowered his blaster. The tornado in my mind vaporized, but grey clouds remained. 

“I’m a law-abiding citizen Mace," he stated. “You’re an enemy of the state. I have to do this.”

Franko raised his blaster at me again to resurrect the tornado. Thankfully, Anakin did not pierce off my other forearm. I grabbed Franko’s blaster arm and pushed it to my right, causing him to fire a shot which hit the ground nearby. I then threw my hairless head against his, and he let out a yelp. As his blaster fell to the ground, I knocked him down as well.

“You are a traitor to the galaxy!” Franko yelled to me on the ground.

“And you are lost!” I shot back at him.

Franko looked to his fallen blaster in front and motioned to grab it, but I kicked him in the face like I had done to Palpatine. With my remaining arm, I used the Force to raise him up in the air.

“Things would be better for both of us if we teamed up to bring down Palpatine," I said.

“You don’t have what I need!” shouted Franko. “Wealth and power are the only virtues here in the lower levels!”

“You can say that again!”

I threw Franko in the air and allowed him to crash back down to the ground. As I walked over to talk to him again, Franko grabbed the blaster. He pointed at me and fired a shot which I blocked with my hand through Force absorption. He fired again and I blocked again. 

“DIE JEDI!” he snarled.

As I got closer to him, I telekinetically snatched his blaster with the Force and brought it to myself. I pointed it at him as he was on his knees.

“I do not want to do this," I told him.

“I gave you my cloth for nothing!” he replied. “Once again, you are no use to me!”

“We can overthrow the Chancellor, and I will assure you that wealth will be distributed to lower level people like you.”

“Mace, you are too imaginative! You know that is impossible!”

“Franko! Trust me like how I first trusted you!”

“It doesn’t matter! I will report you if you let me live! Then, I will fulfill my destin...”

“BAM!” went the blaster after I pulled its trigger.

Franko fell back to the ground with a burning hole on the middle of his forehead. He was dead. 

“What have I done?” I thought to myself.

I had to kill Franko. My tornado had to vanquish his hurricane. Although galactic society seemed to have become ‘do or die’ for the Jedi, I vowed never to approach the dark side of the Force ever again. After all, I could have used a Jedi mind trick on Franko, but my mind just clearly had to be thundered by a strong tornado. I looked down on Franko’s corpse. His green eyes kept looking up in the air in desperation of wealth and his mouth was slightly open.

I threw Franko’s blaster against a nearby wall as hard as I could. I watched it break into black bits as I tried to rid myself of the dark side I had endured. Although the tornado faded into emptiness once more, I was alone again in the darkness of the lower levels. Dirty lampposts continued to shine on as the smell of filth kept invading my nostrils.

There had to be some nice people down here. Not everyone could have been as greedy as Franko was. Perhaps there were other Jedi hiding nearby from the chaos enduring above me and around the galaxy. However, I could not sense anyone nearby with the Force. I could not even hear the voices of my three slain comrades anymore given that they might have transferred the last of their essence for my initial survival.

Thankfully, Kolar, Tiin, and Fisto did not have to live through the supposed turmoil being brought upon the Jedi. They were three of the Jedi Order’s greatest and most experienced warriors, but yet they were all slain by a man we all thought was rightful to serve. My mind was soon subjected to the sunlight of memories us 4 Jedi Masters had together. However, grey fearful clouds returned when...

“Hello!” echoed another voice behind me.

I froze again and turned my head back. Once again, I could not see anyone, though.

“Are you OK?” the voice continued. 

I was not in the mood of meeting someone new and getting betrayed again. I have already endured so much. I lost my friends. I lost Anakin’s loyalty. I lost my forearm. I lost my lightsaber. I lost my chance to save the galaxy. I nearly lost my life. I just lost a new friend. And I am slowly losing to the dark side.

“You have no reason to worry," echoed the unknown voice. “I am not Franko.”

Not being Franko was not going to sway me. The unknown assailant could be even worse. Perhaps even one of Palpatine’s thugs. However, I had to find shelter and especially, someone I could put my trust in. After all, us Jedi are always ready to deal with any type of person. 

So, once again, I walked slowly in the direction of the voice. 


	3. Chapter 3

Once again, I kept on walking towards what appeared to be nothingness. As usual, the unknown voice became more distinct as I kept walking.

“Do not worry," it echoed. “I will not hurt you.”

As I inched closer to it, I realized that the voice was also masculine but warm...very warm. I was able to sense this person through the Force as well. A brown robed man soon emerged from the darkness. The light of one lamppost bestowed upon his face, revealing the full visage. He reminded me of my younger self with the brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes.

“Your face is heavily scarred my friend," the ‘younger’ me said. “Come to my place.”

I was hesitant to trust him as I experienced betrayal a short time ago, but his slight smile and warmer tone led me to accept his invitation. 

“My name is Kula Yulali," he told me. “Who are you?”

“I am Jedi Master Mace Windu," I replied.

“Mace Windu? The Jedi Order’s greatest champion? What happened to you?”

“It is a long story. How do you know me by the way?”

“I was once a Jedi Knight, but anyway enough talking. You need help. Let’s head to my place.”

We started walking more into nothingness until we turned into an alley to our right. From there, we found ourselves entering a small ground-level apartment suite where we came face to face with another person. One who resembled Kula, but was instead a woman...a pregnant woman.

“Kula! You’re home!” she cheered as she embraced my new friend.

The apartment suite was very simple like all in the Coruscant lower levels. It only had one living room, a kitchen, a bathroom and one bedroom. Nothing like the Jedi Temple. 

“Who is this friend of yours?” the woman asked Kula as she looked pensively at my face.

“My dear Aria, this is Jedi Master Mace Windu," replied Kula.

“Oh dear!” she cried. “He is hurt! I will go fetch some ice." 

As Aria headed to the kitchen, Kula and I sat down on the traditional living room couch. He offered me a cup of cold water and in the reflection, I saw my new face. The Force lightning had scarred me like it did to Palpatine and only then, I really knew the danger of the powers of the dark side of the Force. I drank the water, releasing a cool aura which spread comfortably within my body. That was the first sense of comfort I felt in a long while.

“Did you feel a disturbance in the Force?” asked Kula.

“Yes, I did," I replied. “I felt a jolting headache and heard...”

“...the screams of Jedi?”

“Uhhhhhh...yes.”

“What do you think happened?”

“The Jedi are in some sort of big trouble, but I cannot figure how? Anyways, is Aria your wife?”

“Yes. When the war started, I left the order for her to heal the conflict in my mind. The conflict between staying with the Jedi and leaving to pursue true love.”

“I applaud you for not getting your judgement clouded and leaving peacefully.”

“Thanks. We are expecting our first child.”

“Then may the Force be with your new family Kula.”

Aria returned with a pack of ice and slowly placed it on my face. Another cool aura spread as a result, relieving my facial pain at last. 

“Oh dear! Your right forearm is missing!” Aria cried at me. “As a former nurse, I can fix that.”

“Would you mind recounting how you ended up like this?” Kula asked me.

“Chancellor Palpatine did this to me. He is a Sith Lord named Darth Sidious," I told him.

“Ah, I have always had my suspicions of the Chancellor. He has held power for an unnecessary long amount of time.”

“He played both sides in the Clone Wars. Who knows what he is doing now?”

“Chancellor Palpatine is no more. He is now Emperor Palpatine.”

“You mean he became a dictator?”

“Yes. In tonight’s radio broadcast, Palpatine announced that the Galactic Republic became the Galactic Empire and that all the Jedi were declared enemies of the galaxy. He said this in response to an attempt on his life.”

“I could have killed Palpatine if I was not betrayed!”

“Betrayed by whom?”

“The one I thought was destined to destroy the Sith...Anakin Skywalker.”

“Anakin Skywalker? The radio just announced his death a few minutes ago.”

I looked at Kula in confusion. How could the man who had betrayed me be dead? I thought Palpatine took Anakin as his new apprentice, but clearly something happened since the Jedi were now enemies of the state. It made sense that Palpatine killed the Chosen One right after using him to “kill” me. Seemed like the right thing for a Sith to do.

I did not care what happened to Anakin, though. All I thought of was confronting Palpatine again and making him truly pay for his crimes. The Sith Lord seemed to have ordered a genoicde against all the Jedi because of the fact that I nearly killed him. It was my fault. Perhaps putting Palpatine on a trial would have been a safer option. My own anger seemed to have gotten the best of me and blinded me from Anakin’s incoming betrayal. The dark side of the Force had become a neurological pest brought upon by the new storm of guilt.

Aria soon returned with a black mechanical forearm. I lied down and stretched out my severed limb in which the pain has been diminished through my mastery of the Force. I had closed my eyes before the surgery began, diving into sleep mode. Within my mind, the guilt storm faded away to reveal a black starless sky which I called the nightmare zone. This was a zone rarely accessible to the Jedi unless they have been touched by the dark side like I have.

I was floating in nothingness until I felt myself standing on a dark unseeable platform. A light ignited from afar. I had my right forearm and lightsaber back. I pressed the ignition button on my weapon, allowing my metal hilt to give rise to my prestigious purple blade. Purple sparks soon began illuminating the starless sky and a hooded figure stood in front of me. 

I can see the recognizable distorted face and bright yellow eyes under the cloaks. Darth Sidious engaged his red-bladed lightsaber to add a cluster of red sparks to the starless sky I had illuminated with purple.

“You have failed Master Jedi," said Sidious. “The Sith have attained great power.”

“Not yet," I replied.

I charged at the Sith Lord and we locked blades like we did in real life. However, Sidious kicked me in the face and my weapon got lost in darkness as I fell down. The red sparks started to eat away the purple ones. I tried standing up, but Sidious unleashed a barrage of Force lightning at me from his fingertips, illuminating my whole body with painful blue bolts.

“The Jedi are gone," he snarled at me after stopping his electricity. “And so are you.”

He restarted his Force lightning assault again and the sound of his evil laughter thundered everywhere around me. All I could do is cry...cry...and…

“Mace! Wake up!” echoed the voice of Kula.

The pain of the lightning faded away along with the Sith Lord. The red-filled starless sky disappeared as the sun rose in the real world. I was finally awake.

“Are you OK my friend?” asked Kula crouching to my right.

“I am fine," I answered. “I have to confront Palpatine again.”

“You are in no shape to fight the Emperor now. You just got your forearm back after all.”

I sat up on the couch and looked at my new black limb that was attached to my organic brown self. Seems like the short-term recovery from being wounded in battle was over. 

“Fine,” I told Kula. “I will wait a week.”

“You cannot do that,” he replied. “The Emperor has all the Republic’s top generals and the whole clone army with him. You will be killed instantly!”

“Then I must wait and fully rejuvenate. I cannot let the Sith rule this galaxy for long! By the way, do you have any other news?”

“Yes, the Jedi Temple was ambushed last night. Many Jedi were slaughtered, including the younglings. The government-controlled newscast applauded the ambush.”

A drizzle formed in my mind upon hearing this. “That is so unfortunate. It was the only home I ever knew. Anyways, where’s Aria?”

“She went out to town to shop for food.”

“Do you think that the Empire can find us?”

“Never. My Jedi records have been deleted from the galactic database. I am a poor family man now. You are safe Master Windu.”

Kula’s words have always kept me relaxed ever since my near death experience. He was a good friend to me like my three late comrades were. I sought to not only avenge Kolar, Tiin, and Fisto, but all the Jedi decimated by these sudden turns of events. 

“You will die," I told Palpatine in my head. “You will die.”


	4. Chapter 4

Although I had my forearm back, I was still missing my lightsaber. My prestigious purple-bladed one was likely destroyed when it fell from the top of the Senate Building. I could not imagine wielding a blade of any other colour. Purple was truly my colour. It defined me within the Jedi Order as its great champion, and a master of the seventh and most aggressive form of lightsaber combat.

I then began to ponder about my apprentice, Depa Billaba, who grew to be a powerful Jedi Master like me. It was her screams which bothered me the most when I felt the mass disturbance in the Force. Seems like she had perished in this madness. She, in turn, had a young apprentice named Caleb Dume. I hoped the young boy had survived, but given the current circumstances, my hopes remained crushed. Life was now even difficult for Jedi Grand Master Yoda, the wisest member within our order. Who knew if he made it out or not?

Kula emerged from the kitchen with a cup of water in hand. I drank the water, releasing another cool aura which again spread comfortably within my body. 

“You have a lightsaber?” I asked him.

“Yes,” he replied, “A blue-bladed one I secretly have stored away. You wouldn’t like it, though. Besides, you are not ready to confront the Emperor yet.”

“I will be soon.”

“Do you plan on going out to find your lightsaber or something?”

“I want to, but as you can see, it is dangerous for anyone to go fetch it right now.”

“Maybe we could build a new purple-bladed lightsaber.”

“Do you think that could actually happen?”

“Yes, only if we could somehow find purple kyber crystals.”

“They can only be found on the planet of Hurikane.”

The last time I went to Hurikane was when I was a youngling more than 40 years ago. After no other-coloured crystal called to me through the Force, I was sent to Hurikane to get rare purple ones. Despite being accompanied by the ancient professor Huyang, I only succeeded after a confrontation with the planet’s stone-encrusted and purple-eyed insectoid natives. One of them fell down a canyon while chasing me, so I Force healed him to earn the crystals from his body.

“Although I’ve never heard of Hurikane before,” said Kula, “I’m willing to help you regardless." 

“You have a ship?” I asked in return.

“No, we’re going to have to steal one from the mechanic nearby.”

“Franko Drix?”

“Yes him.”

I began to tremble. The memory of killing Franko came storming into my mind, a memory which was the complete opposite of healing the Hurikane native. I remembered last night when I shot him in the head to vanquish the greedy hurricane roaring within him. Although I acted in self-defense, I lowered my guard against the dark side of the Force.

“Are you OK?” asked Kula as he put his hand on my shoulder.

“No," I told him. “I feel like I should have not killed him.”

“What do you mean? Wasn’t it self-defense?”

“It was indeed self-defense! He tried to have me arrested for personal gain, and then we got into a fight! I tried to find an easy way out, but I just had no choice! Believe me!”

Kula’s face turned into the warm one I first saw. He had clearly accepted what happened.

“Franko was one of many lower level citizens who only valued money," he remarked. “Credits blinded him from reality.”

“Do you think we can actually steal a ship?” I questioned him.

“We most certainly can.”

“Certainly can do what?” asked Aria as she entered the apartment with groceries.

“Mace and I are going to take a ship from the mechanic," her husband replied.

“Are you crazy? That madman Franko will kill you!” she insisted as she placed the groceries on the kitchen table.

“Aria,” I responded, “I killed Franko in self-defense.”

“He deserved it then," she said acceptingly. “Anyways, where are you planning on going?”

“Hurikane," I told her. “We are trying to rebuild my lightsaber.”

“The planet contains the right kyber crystals for him," Kula added.

Within minutes, the pregnant Aria watched as we got ready to embark on my second trip to Hurikane. Once she kissed her husband goodbye, we left the apartment to head back into the streets. Although the lower levels continued to smell like trash, the daytime atmosphere made it more bearable than last night.

After emerging from the alleyway, we turned right, gladly away from Franko’s corpse. The late mechanic’s shop would be a few blocks down. The shop would be lifeless like its owner and community. However, with no one around, it would make our endeavour easier. When we walked inside, there were two lines of various spaceships at both of our sides, reminding me of the armies of loyal clone troopers which stood at my sides during the war.

Kula chose the basic transporter convoy to my immediate right and hopped onto the pilot’s seat while I sat on the seat to its right. Kula then drove the convoy out of the shop’s back garage door and into a hangar where the sky full of ships began a sad drizzle in my mind. However, memories of travelling with Kolar, Fisto, and Tiin to their death place also drove my motivation gears of the machine destined to officially end the oppression of the Sith.

Through patience and skill, Kula lifted us into the sky and avoided all government-controlled airspaces as we exited Coruscant. Going into space reminded me the last night I saw prior to the fateful duel with Palpatine. Again, memories were the fuel of my quest to avenge all the Jedi fallen by the evil actions of a Sith Emperor.

The stars around me transformed into streams of white light as the black sky became purple. Through my sense of direction, we travelled at light speed from the galactic capital to the Hurikane system, in which the stars and black sky re-emerged with a grey planet in front of our convoy. Hurikane appeared as if it were a large spherical asteroid in the middle of space with little rock people living on it.

I then guided Kula in landing on the spot where I myself landed so long ago. Once our convoy was on the ground, I stepped onto the pink-skied rocky planet and unlike back then, the stoned natives appeared at once. However, they were not hissing or growling. They remained calm and appeared to have greeted me with what appeared to be welcoming looks on their purple-eyed faces, only because they have seemed to recognize me after all this time. 

However, when Kula emerged from the convoy, they began hissing and growling. One native charged towards him until I placed my hands in front of him, slightly pushing him back with the Force. I then placed my hands in the air, and all the natives were soon silent.

“How did you stop them?” Kula asked me.

“It seems like they recognize me," I replied.

“After all this time?”

“Seems so. This is good for us.”

“Maybe you’re their god or something?”

The stoned natives encircled us and were kneeling down to me as we walked away from our convoy towards them. 

“Where are the crystals?” asked Kula.

“They are within the natives," I told him.

“Are we supposed to kill one of them or something?”

“No, just watch and see.”

One of the natives arose to their feet and vomited out enough prestigious purple crystals from its mouth into its hands. Kula and I watched this in slight disgust. Nevertheless, I placed my hands out front and allowed the native to hand me over the crystals. Moments later, the other natives all stood up and walked away swiftly behind the one who gave me its crystals.

“I never expected this to be so easy," said Kula.

“It was only easy due to the power of memory," I responded.

“So...would we need to go anywhere else?”

“Yes, we need some electrum from Anoat.”

“What for?”

“My old lightsaber had a rare electrum finish.”

“I see. By the way, do you think these natives would make a good army against the Empire?”

“I believe they would want to be left alone like always. The galactic government means nothing to them.”

We soon walked back on the convoy. Kula lifted us back into the sky and then out of Hurikane. 

“Is this rare electrum more accessible than the crystals?” he asked.

“Yes,” I told him. “We could easily get it from a shop.”

“Easily? How much does it cost?”

“A lot I believe.”

“I do not even have that many credits on me," 

“Do not worry my friend. I know a way.”

Once again, the stars around me transformed into streams of white light as the black sky became purple. We then travelled at light speed to the Anoat system.


	5. Chapter 5

Our mission to Anoat was another success. Despite not having enough credits, Kula and I successfully stole some rare electrum metal from the dull-minded shop manager through what can be known as a Jedi mind trick. Back at Kula’s hidden apartment on Coruscant, I used the available spare parts, the electrum, and the kyber crystals from Hurikane to reconstruct my prestigious purple-bladed lightsaber.

I pressed my new ignition button and allowed the crystals to give birth to a new blade which arose from the rare electrum-finished hilt. The purple light illuminated the living room as Kula and Aria stood behind me in awe. Meanwhile, I felt my first jolt of enlightenment in a long time as I held my new rejuvenated weapon. Although the sun shone within my mind, I knew that I had not completed my destiny yet.

“It is so beautiful!” exclaimed Aria.

“Indeed it is,” continued her husband. “Never in my life have I seen a purple lightsaber blade with my own eyes.”

“This will be the weapon that I will kill the Emperor with," I stated.

“Woah! You’re getting a bit too much ahead of yourself," insisted Kula.

“You need practice and patience with your new weapon," his wife added.

“That can take years,” I replied. “I cannot let the Emperor rule the galaxy for that long.”

“Let it take that long,” said Kula. “Remember that the Emperor has a mobilized army of supporters. You cannot afford to die failing to achieve your ultimate goal.”

With those words, I chose to wait at the cost of Palpatine expanding his tyranny through the very army I fought alongside during the Clone Wars. Kula and Aria were right. I had to thoroughly prepare myself and my new lightsaber for a rejuvenated fight against the Sith Master. I had to learn from my mistakes. I had to win for the sake of the Jedi religion and the galaxy. In spite of all these goals, I had to sway away from the dark side of the Force as much as I could, but I have already inched towards it a bit.

I began refamiliarizing myself and my new weapon with all seven forms of lightsaber combat. My mechanical forearm made this a lengthy process as I had to adapt my combat style to my new self. Using the Force has also begun to become a slight challenge too. Nevertheless, Kula and Aria continued to guide me along by continuing to provide me food and shelter and giving me some objects to practice my slowly renewing powers on. Most of all, they kept being the bestest of friends in the darkest of times. Eventually after some time, the Jedi Order’s champion was ready to fight for the galaxy’s freedom. However, that time was a very long time. 

Not only days passed, but also weeks...months...and years. 11 years to be exact.

Kula and Aria now had a young boy of their own. His name was Jolly. His appearance resembled how his father and I looked when we were younglings long ago. Although he had brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes, he possessed great happiness unlike us. The sun in his mind shined greater than any sun, hence the name ‘Jolly.’ However, the sad truth behind that is he is yet to fully learn about the tyrannical darkness of the galaxy. 

Meanwhile, I had grown older. I was 64 years old to be precise. My face was still scarred from Palpatine’s Force lightning, but at least my mechanical forearm now felt like an organic one. When I was practicing my renewed Force powers on a simple toy ball, Jolly approached me and slightly pulled the ball away from me with a slight Force pull.

“Uncle Mace,” he insisted. “Can I play with it?”

“I will give it to you when I am done,” I replied. “It will not take long.”

“My father told me that I would one day be a master in the Force.”

“You will Jolly. Once things get better, you will be on your way to become a Jedi Master.”

“My parents always say, ‘when things get better’, but what does that mean?”

“I would love to tell you Jolly, but just know that our galaxy has some problems right now. Do not worry, though. I will fix all of them soon.”

“OK, can I at least levitate the ball?”

“Uhhhh sure.”

I placed the floating ball into my hands and put on the floor for Jolly to practice on. Jolly put his right hand on front and the ball only budged a tiny bit.

“It did not work," he told me.

“You have to lend all your focus to that ball in front of you," I said.

Jolly closed his eyes and stretched his right hand more in front.

“Feel the Force flowing through you,” I whispered to him.

I heard Jolly take a deep breath and sensed his effort to lift the simple ball. Within moments, the ball slightly floated in the air. Jolly opened his eyes and was the most jolly in his 11-year life. It is like the sun shone as bright as ever in his mind, like it now did in my mind. Guiding the young boy reminded me of training my late apprentice, but way more different. I was not really his master though, but perhaps his ‘second father.’

“Jolly!” called out his mother. “Lunch time!”

The young boy let go of the ball and hurried to the kitchen at once. As I picked up the rolling ball from the ground, Kula approached me with a concerning look on his face.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing really wrong,” he replied. “I just heard that the Emperor was going to visit his home planet this week.”

“Naboo? What is he doing there?”

“I do not know. I heard on the radio today that it was for ‘Imperial duties’ at the royal palace.”

“Kula, I believe I am ready to fight him.”

“I hope so, my friend. A Jedi Master reborn after 11 years?”

“Yes. I am going to leave for Naboo tonight.”

Kula looked a bit confused at me. “You really wanna go tonight?”

“If I do not, Palpatine could be on a different planet.”

“Then you must not go alone.”

“I cannot risk you leaving your family to join me.”

“Mace, this is not only your fight, but that of the whole galaxy. I cannot let Jolly live under this tyrannous regime. He needs to become a fully trained Jedi like you. It is his destiny.”

I accepted Kula’s response. “You have been a loyal friend to me for the past 11 years, Kula. Once again, thank you for the support. As long as your family is OK with this, join me then.”

“Remember what I said. This is the galaxy’s fate we are risking our lives for. Aria and Jolly will be powering the gears of motivation in our mind during our mission.”

“Of course...Of course.”

“What are the two of you discussing?” asked Aria as she came out of the kitchen.

We then told her about the mission we planned to depart on. Although she did not appreciate that the two closest men in her life were going to risk their lives, she accepted it as a fight for everyone in the galaxy and especially her son. However, she did urge us to keep safe.

When night fell, we were already packed and ready to go. I had my purple-bladed lightsaber at my side as Kula had his secret blue-bladed one with him. Jolly had learnt about our upcoming journey through his mother, but the shining sun in his mind caused him to take it as more of an ‘epic’ adventure.

“When will you guys come home?” Jolly asked his father.

“When the mission is accomplished," he replied.

“Give that Sith beast all you got!” the young boy exclaimed.

“We are actually giving him more than what we got.” I told him.

“I really wish I could come," he insisted.

“Again,” said his father, “we told you that it was too dangerous for you.”

“Anyways,” continued Aria, “I believe it is time for you boys to go now.”

She and Jolly hugged me before being kissed goodbye by Kula. After that was all done, Kula and I then headed towards the main door and opened it.

“May the Force be with you," Jolly told us as we left.

With that, the door was shut behind us. All we could hope for was that we just can come home after killing Palpatine and liberating the galaxy. We headed into the alleyway which led to the apartment suite. The ship we used to travel to Hurrikane long ago was waiting for us. 

Once again, Kula hopped onto the pilot’s seat while I sat on the seat to its right. He then lifted us into the vibrant night sky, once again reminding me of the night of the fateful duel with Palpatine, but that was good. I needed all the fuel I required to kill the Emperor.

After avoiding all government-controlled airspaces and exiting Coruscant, we did not hesitate waiting in space.

“Ready?” Kula asked me.

“Ready," I replied.

Within moments, the stars around me transformed into streams of white light as the black sky became purple. We travelled at light speed from the galactic capital to the Naboo system, which housed the Emperor’s home planet and now the man himself.

“You will die," I said to Palpatine in my head. “You will die...tonight.”

Kula proceeded to enter the Naboo atmosphere and thus, ‘Operation Liberty’ began.


	6. Chapter 6

We landed carefully in Theed, the capital of Naboo where a dark night had fallen. To be specific, however, we landed in a secluded alleyway barely within the boundaries of Palace Plaza. Once we exited our ship, the sight at the end of the alleyway leading towards the plaza formed another drizzle in my mind. I saw some clones of the army. Their armor was nothing like what I had witnessed during the Clone Wars. They were now all white. The colors of the Republic era were replaced with the nothingness which will soon be the Imperial era.

As they walked away, we slowly headed towards the end of the alleyway leading to the plaza. We looked to our right and saw four more bleached clone troopers heading to the palace which was on our left. They were pushing a trolley which was carrying something as tall as me. However, that object was hidden with a large black cloak which covered the entire base of the trolley. Before the trolley passed us, we had snuck in front and placed ourselves under the cloak.

We were wedged between the cloak and what appeared to be a stoned object. The limited tight space between the cloak and the object prevented us from distinguishing what the latter really was. We could not even whisper since there was a risk of getting caught. Although we were Jedi and could have fought off the clones, more would have showed up at the plaza and thus would make our mission impossible to complete. We had to reveal ourselves in the part of the palace in which there were the fewest clones.

Moments later, our trolley was going up the stairs leading into the palace and thus we felt ourselves trapped in a mini-earthquake. However, by resisting the shear waves through the Force, we were able to keep ourselves in position under the cloak. Once we were up the stairs and in the palace, we started to hear the clones speak as they continued pushing the trolley.

“Where are we going again?” asked one of them.

“The throne room I believe,” replied another. “Moff Panaka said that the Emperor and Lord Vader would be there for the unveiling.”

“The queen really allowed them to reside here for the week, eh?”

“Well it is mainly Panaka who runs things around here. Anyways, the lift is up ahead.”

“Panaka and many more troopers should be waiting up top.”

“Is the lift big enough for the four of us and the statue?”

“Yep, just us sir.”

“Just us indeed," I said in my head.

Once we all entered the lift and it closed to ascend, Kula and I revealed ourselves from the cloak with our lightsabers engaged. 

“JEDI!” shouted a clone trooper. “Blast them!”

I slashed that clone across the chest with my lightsaber and then proceeded to sever off the head of the trooper behind him before he could fire his blaster. Meanwhile, Kula slaughtered the other two troopers before stopping the lift’s ascension to Panaka’s position.

“We cannot go all the way up,” he insisted. “They have more stormtroopers up there."

“Stormtroopers?” I responded. “I thought they were called…”

“Again Mace, it’s one of the Empire’s many tyrannous changes to this galaxy.”

“And now it is another reason why we are going to kill Palpatine. To undo all these changes!”

“Speaking of him, how else are we getting to Palpatine without getting caught or killed?” 

I pondered for a bit and replied, “We need to go to the throne room through the vents. That way we would bypass Panaka and the many other stormtroopers.”

“There should be an entrance to the ventilation system on this floor then,” he responded.

Once Kula opened the lift door, we were greeted by four more stormtroopers in the hallway. They raised their blasters at us, but we were not afraid. One of them fired a shot at me, so I deflected it with my lightsaber blade and caused his own shot to strike him in the face. Meanwhile, Kula charged at the remaining troopers while deflecting their shots with his weapon, killing two of them and leaving me to behead the last one.

“That was easy," Kula remarked.

“Where’s the vent?” I asked him.

“Right there!” he replied by pointing to a vent at our immediate right.

The vent’s barred covering had a golden frame around it and in each of the four corners, there were four black screws. Without hesitation, Kula and I placed our hands in front and used the Force to try pulling the covering off. We began Force pulling as hard as possible while the storm began forming in both of our minds. However, our combined strength allowed the covering to pop right off, revealing the opening as our mind storms died down.

We quickly entered the vent opening and I summoned the covering to seal us shut within the ventilation system, so stormtroopers would not know where we were. Once inside the system, we crawled our way to a nearby ladder and climbed it to the roof of the floor where Moff Panaka would be. Through the vent on the roof, we saw the Moff dressed in his grey military uniform, waiting impatiently for the statue with six stormtroopers at his side.

“What is taking them so long?” asked Panaka to a nearby trooper.

“I don’t know sir,” he answered. “They should be here by now.”

“Why aren’t they here yet? I just want to present the statue to the Emperor already.”

“Just keep waiting. I’m sure they will come," said another trooper.

Panaka was vexed. “And if they don’t? I’m sure we don’t want to face the wrath of Darth Vader." 

“Darth Vader?” I whispered to Kula quietly in the vent.

“He is the Emperor’s top enforcer,” he replied. “Only now I found out he had the ‘Darth’ title in his name.”

“This means that Darth Sidious has had a third Sith apprentice for a while.”

“Well, as you know, there could only be two Sith. A master and an apprentice.”

Meanwhile, directly below us, Panaka summoned the lift, which opened in front of him and revealed the covered statue alongside the dead stormtroopers.

“There are Jedi here! Find them! Contact Lord Vader!” Panaka yelled as he saw the dead troopers’ lightsaber wounds.

At that moment, we pushed the covering of the roof vent down onto the troopers below. We then jumped on them and started slaughtering them like we did to their friends earlier. I soon faced Panaka and killed the two troopers guarding him with simple lightsaber slashes. Panaka fired two shots at me, but I Force blocked them with my non-lightsaber hand.

As Kula killed the rest of the troopers in the brawl, Panaka tried to shoot me again, but this time, I struck my lightsaber blade on his right arm and caused him to drop his blaster in pain. Panaka fell to his knees, and I held my ignited weapon to his neck.

“Where is the Emperor?” I asked him.

“Why would I tell you?” he shot back at me.

“Because your life's on the line," I replied.

I could sense a storm of fear forming in the Moff’s mind, so all I had to do was make it roar as much as possible. I brought my blade closer to his neck and his eyes watered in fear.

“Please don’t kill me!” urged Panaka.

“Then tell us where the Emperor is," I demanded him as Kula walked to my side since all the troopers were dead.

“He’s in the throne room,” he answered. “You just have to take the lift at the end of this hallway and go all the way up. Then, once you exit the lift, you walk halfway down the hallway and turn left. The Emperor will be there.”

Kula and I disengaged our weapons as Panaka slowly got up with his left hand pressing on the wound I had given him on his right shoulder. He then went towards the lift where his covered statue was and faced us with a smirk on his brown face.

“You will never get to the Emperor,” he snarled at us. “Lord Vader will destroy you both before you could get to him. He knows that you’re here. He will…”

Kula pushed Panaka into the lift with the Force and closed him in it with his prized statue, sending them both down to the bottom of the palace as a result.

We then walked to the end of the hallway where the other lift was and summoned it. Once it opened, we realized it was empty and walked in. I then closed the lift, and we began rising to the top of the palace.

“Should we worry about Vader?” Kula asked me.

“I hope not,” I replied. “Panaka was probably trying to frighten us.”

“Anyways, we are two Jedi after all. I can take Vader while you take Sidious.”

“I want us both to triumph over the Emperor. Jolly would be proud of you if you do so.”

“Defeating two Sith and their Empire will definitely make him jolly enough.”

The lift was around halfway into its ascension to the top and we had our lightsabers in hand, ready for combat with probably more stormtroopers. 

_ “KHOOOOH PUUUHRR!”  _ echoed a sudden weird noise.

“What was that?” asked Kula.

“Probably the lift nearing the top," I responded.

_ “KHOOOOH PUUUHRR!”  _ echoed the noise louder as the lift continued to rise.

“Uhhhhhh, I do not believe that is the lift," said Kula.

The noise kept on getting louder as we neared the top of the palace. A storm of uncertainty began forming in my mind. Once the lift reached the top, the weird noise was at its loudest and became more distinguishable. For some reason, it sounded like someone breathing abnormally.

The lift opened and in front of us was a tall figure suited in black full-body armor, which had a long black cape at the back. The abnormal breathing noises did indeed belong to this figure as he appeared like a cyborg. He wore a trapezoidal helmet and a robotic skull-shaped mask, while also having metallic limbs and plenty of buttons and switches all over his torso. Worst of all, he had a lightsaber in his right hand and ignited its red blade, turning my mind storm into a tornado.

Kula and I had come face to face with Darth Vader, so we ignited our lightsabers in return. However, something was off as the Force surrounding the Sith Lord seemed like a familiar presence to me...a very familiar presence to be more precise. I soon came to grips that Vader was not just any other Sith Lord. I looked right at his robotic face and said…

“Skywalker?”


	7. Chapter 7

“Anakin Skywalker was weak!” yelled Vader in his low robotic voice. “I destroyed him!”

Vader was definitely Anakin. I felt it. After betraying and maiming me, Anakin had clearly given himself up to the dark side and became Palpatine’s third Sith apprentice. His death was only faked so no one would know the true identity of the Emperor’s top enforcer as the fallen Jedi hero of the Clone Wars. Although I did not know why exactly Anakin was a now robotic cyborg, I believed that it was perhaps a punishment for the Chosen One becoming Darth Vader.

Meanwhile, my lightsaber’s purple blade shone on my face. Vader, with the glass red eyes of his mask, looked at me upon recognition and noticed that my face was still scarred from the Force lightning 11 years ago.

“Mace Windu,” he said, “I thought you were dead.”

“I survived,” I told him, “and I am on a mission to do what should have been done long ago.”

“All I know is that you should have been dead long ago.”

“And you should have destroyed the Sith, Anakin.”

Vader grew furious and swung his red lightsaber blade at me, so I blocked it with my own blade. Kula behind me watched the whole ordeal and raised his blue blade more straight as Vader and I clashed and locked blades.

“Your powers are weak, old man," the Sith Lord told me.

“Say what you want Anakin,” I replied, “but this just proves that you never deserved the rank of Jedi Master." 

Vader growled in anger and continuously struck my blade with his in an attempt to strike my face, creating a barrage of crashing noises which echoed through the hallway. I soon backed away quickly from Vader, who Force pushed me to the ground and raised his red blade so high. However, Kula’s blade blocked Vader’s from striking me down, allowing me to get back up.

“It seems like you have brought your friend here to die," Vader remarked to me about Kula.

“Not unless you die first Darth," responded Kula.

Vader backed away from locking blades with Kula and looked at us as we stood with our lightsaber blades shining in the air. As we moved down the hallway, the Sith Lord took turns making lethal swings at me and then Kula, prompting us to block each time. We each tried to return the favour to him, but he blocked as well while the noises of his abnormal breathing and all our lightsabers filled the entire palace top. 

We neared the entrance to the throne room and Kula slightly backed away from the fight in an attempt to open the doors, which were guarded by two of the Emperor’s red-dressed guards. As Vader and I continued to viciously clash with one another in the opposite direction this time, Kula killed the guards with quick slashes. However, he could not open the doors in time since Vader used his other hand behind him to enact a telekinetic choke on my friend.

Kula was lifted into the air with his hands around his neck, struggling to breathe. This disturbed me and powered the tornado roaring in my mind, especially since Vader prevented me from rescuing him. The Sith Lord kept duelling me as we headed back towards the lift, continuing to choke my friend behind him with his non-lightsaber hand. However, I then locked my blade with Vader’s, allowing me to kick him in the shin. Vader let out a low robotic cry and lost his grip over Kula, who dropped to the ground and breathed deeply in relief.

I could not get to my friend, however, since Vader re-engaged me in combat, this time acting more viscous with his hard lightsaber swings. I was getting tired of defending myself and being unable to attack in return, so I forced Vader to lock blades with me once more, only for the cyborg to quickly break free and point his weapon directly at me. However, before I could respond, I felt a thrust of energy throw me back towards the lift as Vader put his hand out front to Force push me. 

My disengaged weapon fell into the lift as I fell back first onto the floor. I reached my hand out to the lift to summon my weapon to me, but Vader began to telekinetically close the lift doors as he started walking towards me. However, behind him, I saw the recovered Kula running towards him with his bright blue blade. The Sith Lord was forced to clash blades with Kula as I used the Force to telekinetically pull the lift doors open and grab my lightsaber back.

By the time I rearmed myself and ignited my lightsaber blade, Kula and Vader had duelled their way beyond the throne room doors to the end of the hallway. I started running towards them, but I heard a cracking noise above me and looked at the shaking chandelier on the roof. I continued to run though as the chandelier came crashing down behind me, filling the area with more loud noises. I looked ahead and saw Vader manipulating the other glass chandeliers to fall on me as I tried to reach Kula’s side. He clearly sensed my urge to help my best friend, just like I had sensed the anger boiling within his black armor.

Although each chandelier falling behind me enhanced my running speed, Vader saw me approaching his intense duel with Kula. Thus, through the Force, he broke the last chandelier off the roof and motioned it to fall onto the amount of ground which separated me from him. As Kula started to lock blades with Vader, I placed my hands in front of the falling chandelier and it broke in midair. However, once the glass shards all fell, I saw Kula struggling to keep his blade locked with Vader’s.

A tornado of fear began forming in my mind as I knew at any moment that Kula could not hold on any longer. He was stuck trying to resist the pressure from Vader’s saber and thus I walked towards them with my ignited weapon at my side, ready to help my friend. However, things took a turn when the Sith Lord’s red glass eyes looked directly into my stressed green eyes.

“You should have come alone," he told me.

With that being said, Vader elbowed Kula in the face, forcing him to draw back his saber and lose his guard. The Sith Lord then propelled his red blade through Kula’s stomach and caused his blue-bladed weapon to fall to the ground disengaged. 

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” I yelled.

I soon retracted my blade into my hilt and fell to my knees. My mind was too stormed up to fight Vader, who took his blade out of my friend, whom he then shoved to the ground in front of me. I crouched down to Kula’s side as he lay dying on the ground, placing my mechanical hand over his cauterized stomach wound while using my other hand to slightly tilt his head up. At the same time, all the battle noises turned silent...except for the abnormal breathing of the Sith Lord and the hissing of his weapon. 

“Mace..." Kula said to me, “...get back up and fight.”

“No!” I cried. “I cannot let you die! This was not supposed to happen!”

“It’s OK...Mace. The Force...is strong with you. Just fi...fix this whole mess.”

“What about Aria...and Jolly?”

“Tell them that...we...won. That the...galaxy is... free. That the Jedi...have...returned.”

Kula closed his eyes and let out his last breath as his head fell slowly back towards the ground. He was dead. The man who took me in during the darkest of times was dead. The man who allowed me to join his family for 11 years was dead. The man who helped me reach this point in life was dead. The man who was my best friend was dead. Tears were streaming down my eyes as rain poured heavily within my mind. I felt like I was crying like this for the first time in my life.

Meanwhile, Vader was still standing in front of me, still breathing abnormally after coldly watching Kula die in my arms. Lightning struck in my mind as my tears vaporized. I stood up and ignited my saber’s blade, whose hissing matched that of Vader’s blade. I positioned myself for a one-on-one battle with the man who not only cut off my forearm so long ago, but has now also murdered my dearest friend in front of me. 

"Worry not,” said Vader as I stared into his red glass eyes. “You will join him soon enough."

“Oh I don’t think so," I replied.

I thrusted myself towards Vader and swung my blade at him, causing it to meet his as the Sith Lord pushed back with alarming strength.

“Your anger clouds your judgement,” he told me. “It is not the Jedi way.”

“It is your judgement which is the most clouded!” I shot back at him. “Have you realized what your actions have done to our galaxy? The Republic and the Jedi Order are destroyed because of you! The Sith seem to misunderstand peace and freedom, so I will show you what justice is.”

I withdrew my saber and attacked from every angle possible, forcing Vader to amplify his defense tactics while attempting to tire him out. I began channeling my Form VII fighting style with every strike as Vader was impatiently trying to return on the attack. After we switched positions, I quickly slammed my blade against Vader’s, pushing him back every time as the duel moved away from Kula’s body and back towards the throne room entrance.

Vader briefly drew his saber back and placed his hand out front, so I did the same in return. As a result, a thrust of energy in front blasted us backwards. We flew back slightly and fell lightly to the ground before getting back up. I looked to the dead Kula behind me, noticing his lonely weapon lying on the ground next to him. As Vader marched towards me with his ignited red saber, I reached out with the Force and summoned Kula’s saber to me, now arming myself with two weapons. I ignited the bright blue blade and held it alongside my prestigious purple one.

I then charged at Vader and clashed both of my blades with his. We were right at the throne room entrance, each beside one of the Emperor’s deceased red guards. I turned myself away from the doors as Vader faced towards them. Within moments of transitioning, I began swinging both of my blades at the Sith Lord, prompting him to clash them away with his. However, I moved quickly towards him, pushing him away from the doors each time.

When he tried to switch from defense to offense, I used both my blades to lock his blade, resisting its pressure and forcing it back towards his robotic mask. In that instant, I drew back my purple blade and slashed Vader’s left thigh. He cried in pain again and had one knee on the ground. I went to slam his helmet with Kula’s saber, but he blocked it with his own, so I kept on slamming until Vader inadvertently drew his back. I then used the Force to snatch Vader’s lightsaber away from him, causing it to slide across the floor disengaged.

As lightning struck prominently within my mind, I raised my purple blade and crashed it right on Vader’s helmet, which fell to the ground alongside most of his mask. What I saw completely staggered me. The man in the black armor was bald. His face was completely pale and badly scarred all over. His eyes were bright yellow like those of a Sith. The remaining part of his mask was a ventilator over his mouth, hence the abnormal breathing. He was really not the youthful Anakin Skywalker I had seen prior to my presumed death. He was truly a ‘monster.’

Nevertheless, I lifted the unmasked Vader into the air with the Force and slammed him against the doors behind me and the wall in front. I then thrusted him more into the air and finally threw him down to the ground. Thunder roared louder than ever within me. I walked to the defeated Sith lying down in front of me. He was unconscious, but still breathing like he usually does. That noise had annoyed me so much at this point, so I raised both my lightsaber blades in the air, pointing them directly at his chest while acknowledging Kula’s corpse nearby.

Suddenly, the doors behind me began to open. I looked back and saw what I have been wanting to see for the past 11 years. A hooded figure with yet another yellow-eyed scarred face. The face of the one and only Emperor Palpatine.


	8. Chapter 8

“Master Windu,” said Palpatine in his dark-toned crackling voice. “You survived.”

“Indeed I did,” I told him. “Now I am here to end this tyrannous madness, once and for all.”

I turned away from the unconscious Vader and faced Palpatine. He let out a crackling laugh, which was terrifyingly visible on his scarred face. I knew he sported the hood permanently because of what I did to his face 11 years ago.

“What if I made it up to you?” the Emperor asked me.

“What do you mean by that?” I replied as I pointed my purple blade at him.

“Your arrival and actions here proved to me that your survival could have been a blessing.”

“Your point is?”

“You possess such great anger and hatred in you, such qualities which could make you a great Sith! You could rise within the Empire’s ranks and become more powerful than ever!”

I lowered my blade in shock. Palpatine had clearly sensed the tornadoes and thunderstorms within my mind. At that moment, I realized that I had approached the dark side of the Force more than ever. My mistake was paving the way for Palpatine as he attempted to manipulate me, much like he did to Anakin, whom I then looked at while he still lay knocked out.

“Yes,” Palpatine suddenly continued. “Kill Lord Vader and take your place at my side.”

I was shook by the Emperor’s words. He wanted me to kill Vader and subsequently replace him. This just proved to me that he only cared about his own power. He just used apprentices to carry out all his dirty work and then disposed of them when they no longer met his expectations. 

According to the Sith’s “Rule of Two”, there could only be two Sith at a given time - a master and an apprentice. The master was supposed to represent the power of the dark side of the Force, while the apprentice trained under the master, eventually becoming powerful to replace the master one day. Since Vader somehow became a robotic cyborg, Darth Sidious probably did not see the full power potential in him as he did in the former Anakin Skywalker. Sidious saw this potential in me, believing that I could carry out his duties, replace him, and ultimately preserve the Sith religion. This was all so sickening to my mind, making it muddy amidst the storms.

“What are you waiting for?” continued Palpatine. “He cut off your arm! He killed your friend! Kill him and fulfill your true destiny!”

“You’re the one who weakened him!” I yelled back. “You made him a cyborg in the first place!”

“I had no other choice. He was mutilated badly after a duel with his former master on Mustafar. I saved him, but he unfortunately became weaker. You Windu would make a stronger apprentice.”

I looked at Kula’s body and remembered his last words to me. By doing so, I remembered why I truly came here. Not to give myself away to the dark side, which I inadvertently neared, but to defeat it with light.

" _Dew it!_ ” urged Palpatine in front of me as I continued pondering.

“No,” I replied. “The Jedi have returned.”

I swung Kula’s blade to attack the Emperor from his left, but at the same time, he ignited his only red-bladed lightsaber. This caused his crimson beam to block Kula’s blue one as I pressed on the attack.

“It’s treason, then," Palpatine said in response.

The Emperor quickly pushed his blade back against mine and scurried back, using the Force to grab his apprentice’s lightsaber off the ground before igniting it. He was now armed with two lightsabers just like me, except that his sabers’ blades were both red, signaling the pure evil within him. I turned myself towards the throne room entrance, and Palpatine began crashing both his blades against mine. 

I pushed his blades back though each time he motioned for the attack, determined to destroy him once and for all. Palpatine and I soon clashed blades as we moved into the former’s throne room, which was the temporarily renovated version of the queen’s throne room. There were grand windows at the sides and a red carpet which led to the dark Imperial throne at the front of the room. 

I soon returned to the offensive and slammed my cool-coloured blades against the Sith’s red ones, pushing him back towards his own throne each time. Palpatine growled and pushed his blades against mine, locking them all in a pressurized beam knot. In response, I kicked Palpatine in the torso and caused him to back away from me. I then put my two armed hands in front, sending a blast of Force energy which sent the Emperor flying back towards his throne. 

Once he crashed on the ground, I ran towards him, telekinetically snatching Vader’s lightsaber away from him and causing it to slide across the floor deactivated. As I got closer to him, I leaped into the air and got both my blades ready to kill. However, the Emperor got up, put his weapon away, and unleashed a bright blue barrage of Force lightning at me from his fingertips. This caused me to fall to the ground electrocuted as my lightsabers got disengaged.

As Palpatine approached me, I got myself back up and re-ignited both my sabers, but my opponent blasted more Force lightning in front of me. I put both my blades in front to block the lethal electricity, but the might of the dark side of the Force pushed me back. As my feet slid across the throne room floor, I used all the Force within me to try to deflect the lightning back at Palpatine, but the amount of energy coming from the Sith Master was too great. 

At this point, I did not possess the amount of Force energy to completely push back against the Emperor, an amount which could almost amass to that of all the deceased Jedi. Three of such Jedi already lended me their energy when I survived my fall from the Senate Building. Besides, my mind had been stormed up with tornadoes for hours, especially when I neared the dark side of the Force. 

I began thinking about Kula again, however, and specifically, his last words - about telling Aria and Jolly certain things. I vowed to tell them those things. I vowed to tell them that Kula’s death was not for nothing. That we won. That the galaxy is free. That the Jedi have returned. As those words echoed in my mind and calmed the storms, I was relieved of the pressure of the Force lightning and inched forward with my blades.

Palpatine started crying in despair as I moved to vaporize him with his own lightning. I got closer to the Emperor as my mind’s motivation gears worked as fine as ever. The grey clouds within started to clear away as I saw my two blades absorbing the Sith lightning and sending it back towards its maker. The thought of Palpatine’s impending death entertained me. However, the whole ride came to a halt when…I started to feel like I was choking.

It was the unmasked Darth Vader who was enacting a telekinetic choke on me from behind. He was awake, ready to stop me from killing Palpatine again, despite his master wanting me to kill and replace him earlier. As a result, I was forced to draw my saber back and therefore lost my opportunity to kill the Emperor with his own lightning, which he was now able to stop. Vader then threw me into the air with the Force and then back to the ground, as I had done to him. I lost both my sabers in the process as Palpatine used the Force to equip Vader with his.

I quickly grabbed my own purple-bladed saber, but before I could grab Kula’s blue-bladed one, Vader summoned it to himself. He then ignited his own crimson beam to bisect the metal hilt of the late Jedi’s weapon, destroying it much like he did with its owner. My mind was all stormed up again in anger. I ignited my only blade and thought of charging at Vader, but Palpatine engaged his weapon from behind and forced me to clash with him instead.

He locked his blade with mine and found a way to kick me in the face. I yelped in pain and dropped my lightsaber, which fell disengaged to the ground. Before I could react, the Emperor pierced off my mechanical forearm with his red blade and blasted me with a dose of Force lightning from his other hand, sending me crying to the ground in pain. Vader then moved quickly towards me and lifted his weapon in the air at the thought of executing me, until his master motioned him to stop. My mind storm of fear dwindled into one of confusion.

“Lord Vader,” said Palpatine. “You have done well. You can leave us now. Let me deal with Master Windu. I will have a medical capsule waiting for you back down, my apprentice.”

“Yes,” replied the unmasked Vader in his low robotic voice. “My master.”

I was so confused by Palpatine's relationship with Vader. He did not see him as a worthy Sith apprentice and even tried to have me kill him. Despite all this, he let him go peacefully as they reaffirmed their loyalties to one another and especially against me. Perhaps their collective effort in defeating me allowed the Emperor to keep Vader as his enslaved apprentice...for now. 

“Anakin!” I called out to Vader as he was leaving. “Don’t let this menace control you!”

Palpatine unleashed another barrage of Force lightning on me, illuminating my whole body with painful blue bolts as Vader walked out of the throne room. 

“You cannot turn him!” the Emperor told me after stopping his assault. “He is mine!”

I slightly raised my remaining hand and motioned to grab my lightsaber with the Force. However, as the weapon came flying to me in the air, Palpatine grabbed it and threw it into a dark corner of his throne room before electrocuting me again.

“You fool!” he yelled. “You think you can kill me?”

“Yes I can!” I answered while motioning to telekinetically steal his weapon.

This failed when the Emperor unleashed more lightning on me, destroying the Force pathway I tried to establish. He then let out a loud evil laugh before stopping his electric assault again.

“Are you going to kill me?” I asked him.

“Kill you?” he responded. “I would most certainly like to.”

He let out some more lightning from his fingertips, and I cried in pain as my body became illuminated with painful bolts again. The pain was the greatest in my scarred face, which I feared could become more disfigured if the electrocution continued, which it gladly did not.

“Why do you keep stopping?” I asked Palpatine. “I thought you wanted to kill me.”

“A thought has come to my mind,” he told me. “I don’t need to kill you...when I have...other uses for you.”

“What?”

Palpatine did not reply. He unleashed more Force lightning on me. All I could do is close my eyes and accept the shocking pain all over while my stormy mind wondered what was going to happen next. 


	9. Chapter 9

I woke up to the unfamiliar surroundings around me after a long deep sleep. I looked down to see that the bottom half of myself was submerged in a sickly golden liquid. Somehow, it felt like water to me and was draining away slowly. I was crouched inside a tall cylindrical glass tank. It, in turn, was surrounded all around by large rocks and a dusty blue atmosphere highlighted by the stormy sky above me where lightning continuously danced. 

I felt like I was asleep for years as my mind seemed to be in a never-ending stormy state, but yet I was never bothered by this. I even felt the dark side of the Force surrounding me, but again, I was not bothered. It seemed like I had gotten used to all this despite just waking up. I was not even slightly bothered by the partial reflection of “myself” I saw through the glass in front of me. I was much paler and taller, my eyes were now blue, and my face was more distorted and wrinkled. I had a large crack on my forehead, white eyebrows above my new eyes, and dark technology wired to my head which seemingly allowed for my transformation. I even had my other organic forearm back somehow as it emerged from the draining liquid. Mace Windu has been buried by years of raging storms. I was someone completely new, and all I could do was just continue accepting this new reality like I have already been doing.

Suddenly, I heard someone gasp for life as if they were submerged in water and brought back up again. A swarm of black-hooded figures began scrambling around in front of me. I could not see any of their faces though as they were black all over and moved farther away from me towards the direction of the gasp. However, I felt the storms of fear and panic raging within their minds as they scurried to grab tools, wires, and pieces of some sort of obscure technology. 

“Lord Sidious is in trouble!” exclaimed one of them, followed by another. 

That news would please the former me, but not the new me I have become. Instead, I felt rather somewhat confused and concerned. It was Darth Sidious who brought me here for his “other uses” and seemingly made me into who I am now by getting rid of my past Jedi self. He did not feel like an archenemy to me anymore, but like an apparent master and friend instead. After all, he did spare my life back on Naboo, believing that I could serve a greater purpose perhaps.

Meanwhile, from afar, I saw that all the black-hooded figures quickly assembled a complex machine which was wired to other machines. It also bore a mechanical harness and attached in front of it was one of their own. I could not see who specifically was on that unfamiliar machine, but they were soon raised into the air by it. At the same time, the figures chanted in an unfamiliar language before switching to a familiar one.

“ _Long live Lord Sidious!_ ” they chanted. “ _Reborn you are! Reborn the Sith will be!_ ”

So Palpatine was the one attached to all this machinery and the leader of these mysterious figures. Based on the chants, I soon came to realize that he was on some sort of life support after being “reborn” somehow. What exactly happened to him? Then again, what happened to the Sith since they are not “reborn” yet? I was determined to find out.

One of the figures approached my glass tank and proceeded to push a button near it. The sickly golden liquid thus all drained away, revealing my naked mutilated body as the figure’s face remained hidden under the black hood.

“What just happened over there?” I asked the figure about Sidious in my new growling voice.

“A great error has been made," he replied in his low grouchy voice.

“What do you mean?” 

“A terrible balance has been brought to the Force! The Sith have been destroyed!”

“How so?”

“Lord Sidious was murdered!”

I was very confused. “Isn’t Lord Sidious here, though?”

“Yes, he is. Although he died, his spirit travelled here into a clone body and gasped on revival.”

“So you resurrected him through some sort of cloning?”

“Indeed. However, his power is just so immense that his clone body became unstable and started to deteriorate, so we attached him to the life-supporting Ommin harness.”

“If he is decaying, then what was the point of bringing him back from the dead?”

“Because the Sith will still be worshipped even in death. Because one day, we will resurrect the Sith and its galactic empire, as Lord Sidious wishes.”

I started to ponder on why I was here and asked, “What is my place in all this?”

“Ah yes, let me tell you! Lord Sidious wanted you to lead the revived empire at his side. That is why he brought you here 12 years ago and ordered us to transform you...”

“Into a Sith?”

“No, like us, you are no true Sith, but the most powerful devotee to the dark side of the Force. You are just essential for the contingency to raise the Sith from extinction and restore them to galactic dominance. Perhaps by then, you could be a true Sith.”

“You know, I always thought Lord Sidious wanted to rule his original Sith empire with Darth Vader as his heir.”

“So did we, but Lord Sidious somehow anticipated his own demise and the Sith’s destruction, hence the contingency we speak of and are part of. However, given his unexpected decaying state after his too soon of a resurrection, you will now play a greater role.”

Having heard enough about the “contingency” for now, I casually switched the subject. “Where are we exactly?”

“We are on the planet of Exegol, which is the hidden world of the Sith in the Unknown Regions of this galaxy. No one can travel here unless they have one of the two Sith wayfinders, which only Lords Sidious and Vader possess somewhere within the galaxy. I believe Lord Vader did not even know what his wayfinder even did.”

“You from here?”

“Yes, I was born and raised here on Exegol, devoting my whole life to the dark side as an acolyte of the Sith Eternal cult.”

Upon discovering where I was, I told the figure, “I must speak to Lord Sidious, now.”

“You cannot. He is not fit to talk at this moment, so we must continue rejuvenating him.”

“How long will that take?”

“I do not know, but in the meanwhile, you can return to your deep sleep.”

“Wait…”

“Silence! We must preserve your durability and longevity.”

The figure proceeded to press another button which began filling my tank with sickly golden liquid from bottom up. The technology implanted on my head slightly pressured it and soon I felt fatigued. The liquid had already moved up to my neck and was now making its way up my face. At that moment, I learned that I can breathe under this liquid, which soon crawled up towards my new blue eyes as I closed them.

I was asleep and returned to the nightmare zone for the first time in a long while. Once again, I was floating in nothingness until I felt myself standing on a dark unseeable platform. A light ignited from afar. I had a different type of lightsaber in hand. I pressed the ignition button on my new weapon, allowing my metal hilt to give rise to a crimson red blade. Red sparks soon began illuminating the black starless sky and a familiar figure stood in front of me. 

It was my past Jedi self, looking like how he looked during the Clone Wars. Mace Windu engaged his prestigious purple-bladed lightsaber to add a cluster of purple sparks to the starless sky I had illuminated with red.

“What has become of you?” he asked me. “You have become the very thing you swore to avoid at all costs. Did you forget about Kula? His last words? About Aria...and Jolly?”

“The dark side of the Force is clearly our true destiny. We were made for this," I replied.

“You are lost!”

I charged at my past self and we clashed blades with one another. However, I kicked Windu in the face and his weapon got lost in darkness as he fell down. The red sparks started to eat away the purple ones. He tried standing up, but I unleashed a barrage of Force lightning at him from my fingertips, illuminating his whole body with painful blue bolts.

“Accept your fate," I growled at him after stopping my electric attack.

Meanwhile, the starless sky turned into a stormy lighting-ridden one, like that on Exegol. The dark clouds and loud thunder surrounded Windu, burying him and thus reflecting my real-life transformation into the dark-side adept Palpatine desired. However, Windu was able to say a few more things amidst the storms.

“I am not dead!” he exclaimed. “I could be freed from all the mind-controlling darkness Palpatine bestowed upon you!”

“You failed as a Jedi!” I responded.

“Yes, look at what I’ve become! I feel disgraceful!”

“This was all foreseen by Lord Sidious!”

“Just know that I am the entrapped Jedi spirit within your sickening Sith body!”

After that, Windu spoke no more as he got swept away by the storms, but what he said was indeed true. Palpatine had indeed made me into his Sith monster and in the process, he trapped my past Jedi self deep down with dark mind-controlling technology. Again, all I could do was continue accepting my new reality and anticipate the future, one which makes me hungry for the impending power. 

Yes, Palpatine really made me different and perhaps the only way to revert me back was through death. However, if the new me deals enough damage in the future and allows for the Sith’s rebirth to happen, perhaps I will never enter the Netherworld of the Force. Perhaps I will forever remain in this disfigured form in the afterlife, despite all of this being forced upon me.

Anyways, all the storms around me soon disappeared and I was left alone in black nothingness again. I just continued sleeping for what felt like a long time...a very long time.


	10. Chapter 10

I woke up to the familiar surroundings around me after another long deep sleep. I looked down to see that the bottom half of myself was again submerged in that sickly golden liquid as it appeared to be draining away slowly. Everything else about Exegol remained the same, especially the stormy sky above me where lightning continued to dance, but more than ever.

The cultist I last talked to appeared in front of my glass incubator and pressed a button which drained all the liquid away, revealing my naked mutilated body once more. I felt more powerful than ever, as the dark side of the Force surrounding me was like my own invisible suit of armor. 

The cultist then pressed another button which caused all the glass around me to rise. I stepped out of my tank and onto the dusty rock floor in front of me, standing fully erect for the first time as my new self. I then took a good look at the hidden Sith world which I have been inhabiting for so many years. I discovered that my tank was not alone as mine was among few attached in a circle. Additionally, there was another circle of tanks to the left. The inhabitants of all the other tanks looked exactly like me, but they were lifeless.

Another black-hooded cultist approached me and handed me a long golden robe. I put it on to cover my naked mutilated body, only leaving my distorted face and hands visible. I then looked clearly in front of me to see a large circular apparatus which had innumerable wires attached to it. Within all the mechanical complexity, I saw a frail black-hooded figure from its side.

“Is Lord Sidious in there?” I asked the cultists in my new growling voice.

“Yes, we have been rejuvenating him for so long,” replied the cultist who handed me the robe.

“For how long?”

“11 years,” answered the other cultist as his friend left.

“So that is how long I was asleep for?” I asked.

“Yes, you are more powerful than ever at the age of 87. We believe that you can live strong beyond the age of 100.”

“All due to the dark side’s technology?”

“Indeed, my friend.”

“Anyways, may I speak to Lord Sidious now?”

“Yes, he is expecting you.”

After the cultist walked away, I made my way towards Palpatine’s life support machine. The lighting-ridden sky of Exegol roared on like that never-ending one in my mind. I walked to the right of the complex machine and turned to look clearly at the frail clone within, especially when the light of the lightning above briefly shined on his face. I was left very startled by what I saw.

The resurrected Palpatine was indeed in a very horrid decaying state. Although his face looked relatively the same as the last time I saw it, his eyes were completely white and his lips were blackened. When lightning struck again, the greater flash of light allowed me to see more. Palpatine’s back was still attached to the front of his Ommin harness and his fingers were rotting away, exposing the bone underneath. Some of his fingers were even missing.

Despite the sight of the putrid phantom menace, I nonetheless kneeled down in front of him and bowed my head down. A black demonic smile soon appeared on Palpatine’s blind-eyed face.

“Good,” he told me in his same dark-toned crackling voice. “Good! Now rise, my friend.”

I soon stood erect again and faced Palpatine once more. 

“Long have I been waiting to meet you,” he said.

“What is thy bidding, My Lord?” I asked him.

“We have so much to talk about, especially the plot to restore the Sith empire.”

“Lord Sidious, how did this all happen? How were the Sith destroyed? What exactly happened to you...and Lord Vader?”

At that moment, thunder erupted louder than ever and the lightning was at its brightest. I saw Palpatine’s dark smile transform into a deep frown.

“LORD VADER IS A TRAITOR!” he exclaimed.

“My Lord, what do you mean?!” I asked frantically in confusion.

“He’s the one who killed me! The one who literally ended my Empire! The one who brought balance to the Force by destroying the Sith! The one who fulfilled his destiny as the Jedi’s Chosen One! The one who ceased to become Vader and returned to being Anakin Skywalker!”

A drizzle formed in my mind upon hearing this. “That is so unfortunate. It seems like an unfortunate glimmer of sunlight remained within Vader’s dark mind. Anyways, I will find him...and I will kill him.” 

“Vader is dead. He died in the process of killing me to protect that stupid Jedi son of his.”

“Son?”

“Yes, the son who was supposed to replace his father as my apprentice, but is now probably leading a new generation of Jedi thanks to his father’s inevitable actions.”

“Inevitable you say? Seems like you were prepared for your own downfall.”

“Indeed, my friend. I expected Lord Vader’s betrayal and my subsequent fall from power. Thus, I planned out the entire contingency before the rise of my original empire...including the thought of having someone like you.”

I was moved by the last eight words said to me and said, “I always thought that the effects of the Chosen One prophecy would last an eternity, but through our combined efforts, we will undo its effects! We will bring back the Sith and create a dark empire which will last for eternity!”

Palpatine laughed in content. “Your desire for power is so strong! A great Sith you will become when the time comes! At this moment, I greatly rely on you to restore the empire.”

“I will try to do my best,” I replied, “My Lord.”

“You have to do  _ the best _ . Listen, my friend. Although I anticipated Vader’s betrayal, it caught me at too early of a point for my plans. My clone body was not prepared to hold my immense power after I had used unnatural dark side abilities to transfer my essence into it. Hence, I am in a very weak state, relying on machines and fluids to stop myself from decaying any further. So now you should understand why you have to do  _ the best _ .”

With those words said, the motivation gears in my stormed up mind worked finer than ever, spinning quickly as Palpatine resumed speaking to me.

“After our last encounter on Naboo,” he told me, “I knew you were the perfect candidate for this contingency. Thus, I had my followers physically and mentally transform you into who you are right now. Into someone who is more durable, powerful in the dark arts, and capable of living very long. Into someone who especially has no more connection to the Jedi religion anymore.”

I bowed down to Palpatine once more as lightning continued to strike above us.

“Then I must not fail you,” I assured him.

“Good,” he replied. “You have nothing to worry about in your grand endeavour, as I will be there  _ every  _ step of the way. Anyways, why don’t you test out your renewed powers?”

I stood erect again and looked up into the stormy sky. I raised my arms and while thinking greatly about my new destiny, I felt a thrust of energy running through my veins. Within moments, I unleashed a bright blue barrage of Force lightning which shot up into the sky. It illuminated the entire ravine we were in as Palpatine chuckled to the sounds of the thunder.

“Good!” he exclaimed. “Good!”

Once I brought my electricity to a halt, I lowered my arms and stretched out my right arm, motioning to break a piece of the tall rock nearby. I then used the Force to rip off a rock ball and as I telekinetically brought it towards me, I used all my might within to destroy it midair, pleasing Palpatine even more as he heard the bits of rock falling to the ground.

“You have done very well,” he told me. “I believe you are very fit to do what must be done.”

“Indeed,” I replied. “I will unite all the Sith acolytes and Imperial loyalists! Together, we will bring a definite order to this galaxy through our new empire! Every Jedi and in fact, anyone who dares to try preventing the Sith’s return and preserving the Chosen One’s balance will be destroyed!”

“Perhaps there could be at least someone within the new generation of Jedi who possess the qualities to be a powerful dark-side adept like you.”

“If I need an apprentice to help me build and enforce our new empire, I will find one. After all, the Sith traditions must live on through the use of apprentices.”

“Very good, my friend. When the time comes, you will find a worthy apprentice who will be capable of inheriting the Sith legacy. Anyways, you need a new name now, so kneel before me.”

I kneeled down at Palpatine’s request and prepared to take my final step into darkness.

“Mace Windu is long gone,” he told me. “So henceforth, you shall be known as... _ Snoke _ .”

With that, I, Snoke, arose as the thunderstorm in the sky above us was louder than ever.

“Now,” continued Palpatine. “A ship waits for you outside this citadel as it is finally your time to leave Exegol and embark on your important galactic conquest.”

“As you wish,” I replied. “My Lord.”

“With patience and skill, you will find yourself with a worthy apprentice and a new empire. With the destruction of democracy and the Jedi, the Sith will be back and prevail once and for all!”

“Indeed.”

“Now, leave at once. Just remember that I will be here on Exegol watching your every move with great interest.”

Those were the last words spoken in our only in-person conversation. I soon left the frail Palpatine and his life-supporting apparatus behind, and then walked past the containers of lifeless Snokes into a dark corridor. The light of the lightning-ridden sky guided my way through the corridor as four tall statues of ancient Sith philosophers watched me leave the citadel for my grand endeavour.

I was finally out of the ravine after 23 years of ‘training’ and was walking on a flat rock surface. I could now clearly see way more of the planet’s stormy dark blue sky than ever before. My ship was just in front of me and was guarded by two other black-hooded cultists. 

So nonetheless, I proceeded to start a journey to bring a new order to the galaxy as Palpatine’s puppet. I also vowed to find an apprentice of my own, one who will serve as my top enforcer. One who will be worthy enough to inherit the Sith legacy. One who will eventually destroy the sickening Sith body of Snoke, finally freeing my entrapped Jedi spirit into the Netherworld of the Force...where Kolar, Fisto, Tiin, Kula, and especially true peace long awaited.


End file.
